In addition to roadside bombs, insurgent ambushes and the desert heat, US troops in Iraq have also been victims of electrocution - while taking a shower or going for a swim, according to the US military.

Following the deaths from electric shock of at least 16 US service members in Iraq, including three while showering and one in a swimming pool, a military task force has begun inspecting electrical systems at the military facilities in Iraq.

Inspectors found potential electrical hazards at 15,000 of the 41,000 visited since the task force's inception in August, a US military spokesman said. In January 2008 Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth was killed by electric shock while showering in the living quarters at Baghdad's Radwaniyah Palace, Hussein's former estate.

The soldier who previously lived in Maseth's room, had complained about shocks in the shower and later told investigators that at one point he had to use a wooden handle to turn off the shower nozzle because the electric current was so strong.

US contractor KBR, which oversees maintenance at Radwaniyah and most of the US facilities in Iraq, was sued by Maseth's family who said it had failed to maintain the facility adequately.

KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne said: "KBR maintains that it was not responsible for the death of Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth, nor the electrocution deaths that have been publicised in recent months."